Rice met Monday evening with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the next leg of her week-long marathon to resolve the crisis.
Rice began a week-long tour of shuttle diplomacy in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. The two leaders discussed developments in south Lebanon, where Hizbullah has built an extensive terror base from which to carry out its operations against Israel.
At her meeting with Siniora, Rice thanked him for his “courage and steadfastness.” An official source in her entourage said she was expected announce U.S. aid for Lebanon.
On Sunday, she met with U.S. President George W. Bush and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal at the White House to review the situation prior to her departure.
While Rice was discussing the situation in Washington, foreign ministers from Germany, France and Britain were already in Jerusalem, meeting with top government officials to discuss the latest developments in the Re-engagement War.
Even as Rice makes the rounds in her efforts to help change the landscape in Lebanon for a future peace, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on Sunday to decide whether or not to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Rice dismissed the idea of an immediate ceasefire last week in a news conference held at the State Department, calling it a “false promise” and saying that “an immediate ceasefire without political conditions does not make sense.” Rice added, “Syria knows what it needs to do and Hizbullah is the source of the problem.”
She is scheduled to meet in Rome on Wednesday with European heads of state to formulate future plans for ensuring peace in the region once a ceasefire is in place. Rice is expected back in Israel for more talks next Sunday, possibly to try to implement a ceasefire at that time.
Rice began a week-long tour of shuttle diplomacy in Beirut with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. The two leaders discussed developments in south Lebanon, where Hizbullah has built an extensive terror base from which to carry out its operations against Israel.
At her meeting with Siniora, Rice thanked him for his “courage and steadfastness.” An official source in her entourage said she was expected announce U.S. aid for Lebanon.
On Sunday, she met with U.S. President George W. Bush and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal at the White House to review the situation prior to her departure.
While Rice was discussing the situation in Washington, foreign ministers from Germany, France and Britain were already in Jerusalem, meeting with top government officials to discuss the latest developments in the Re-engagement War.
Even as Rice makes the rounds in her efforts to help change the landscape in Lebanon for a future peace, the United Nations Security Council held an open debate on Sunday to decide whether or not to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Rice dismissed the idea of an immediate ceasefire last week in a news conference held at the State Department, calling it a “false promise” and saying that “an immediate ceasefire without political conditions does not make sense.” Rice added, “Syria knows what it needs to do and Hizbullah is the source of the problem.”
She is scheduled to meet in Rome on Wednesday with European heads of state to formulate future plans for ensuring peace in the region once a ceasefire is in place. Rice is expected back in Israel for more talks next Sunday, possibly to try to implement a ceasefire at that time.